Capture game apparatus

Abstract

An electronic hand held puzzle game apparatus in which the apparatus includes a housing with left and right housing portions, a first array of lights connected to the left housing portion and a second array of lights fixedly connected to the right housing portion. The first array of lights and the left housing portion is translatable and rotatable relative to the right housing portion, and the first array of lights is movable around an axis extending perpendicular to a housing longitudinal axis. When a puzzle piece light pattern appears on the first array of lights, a player moves that array to align the light pattern with a non-illuminated space on the second array of lights. Closing a compression switch transfers the puzzle piece from the first array of lights to the second array of lights provided that the player's alignment is correct.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A light pattern game apparatus comprising:
 a housing having first and second portions;   a first array of lights mounted to the first portion of the housing;   a second array of lights mounted to the second portion of the housing;   a controller connected to the housing and to the first and second arrays of lights for selecting from a multiplicity of varying patterns for display on the first and second arrays of lights, including a first predetermined light pattern to appear on the first array of lights and a second predetermined pattern to appear on the second array of lights;   a compression switch mounted to the housing operatively connected to the first and second arrays of lights and to the controller for activation when the patterns of the first and second arrays of lights respectively display the first and the second predetermined patterns; and   an indicator structure mounted to the housing and operatively connected to the controller and the compression switch for informing a game player whether the compression switch is activated when the first and the second predetermined patterns are displayed on the first and second arrays of lights.   
     
     
         2 . The game apparatus of  claim 1  wherein:
 the first array of lights is mounted to the first portion of the housing to enable rotation around a longitudinal axis of the housing, rotation around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and translation parallel to the longitudinal axis. 
 
     
     
         3 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second array of lights is fixedly mounted to the second portion of the housing.   
     
     
         4 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first portion of the housing is both rotatable and translatable relative to the second portion of the housing.   
     
     
         5 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the compression switch is activated by the relative movement of the first and the second housing portions.   
     
     
         6 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the housing is generally cylindrical in shape and includes oppositely disposed handles.   
     
     
         7 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the indicator structure includes the controller and the first and second arrays of lights for extinguishing predetermined lights of the first array of lights and illuminating or extinguishing predetermined lights of the second array of lights.   
     
     
         8 . The game apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first array of lights is mounted to the first portion of the housing to enable rotation around a longitudinal axis of the housing, rotation around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and translation parallel to the longitudinal axis; and   the second array of lights is fixedly mounted to the second portion of the housing.   
     
     
         9 . The game apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the housing is generally cylindrical in shape and includes oppositely disposed handles.   
     
     
         10 . The game apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the first portion of the housing is both rotatable and translatable relative to the second portion of the housing.   
     
     
         11 . The game apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein:
 a compression switch is mounted with the housing and is activated by relative movement of the first and second housing portions.   
     
     
         12 . The game apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the indicator structure includes the controller, and the first and second arrays of lights for extinguishing predetermined lights of the first array of lights and illuminating or extinguishing predetermined lights of the second array of lights.   
     
     
         13 . A puzzle game apparatus comprising:
 a housing having first and second portions, each portion being structurally arranged to move relative to each other along a longitudinal axis of the housing;   a first array of lights mounted to the first portion of the housing, the first array of lights being rotatable around the longitudinal axis of the housing and rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;   a second array of lights mounted to the second portion of the housing;   a controller connected to the housing and to the first and second arrays of lights for selecting from a multiplicity of varying light patterns for display on the first and second arrays of lights, including a first predetermined light pattern to appear on the first array of lights and a second predetermined pattern to appear on the second array of lights;   a compression switch mounted to the housing operatively connected to the first and second arrays of lights and to the controller for activation when the patterns of the first and second arrays of lights display the first and the second predetermined patterns; and   an indicator structure mounted to the housing and operatively connected to the controller and the compression switch for informing a game player whether the compression switch is activated when the first and the second predetermined patterns are displayed. on the first and second arrays of lights.   
     
     
         14 . The game apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the indicator structure includes a speaker operatively connected to the controller and the compression switch.   
     
     
         15 . The game apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the housing includes oppositely disposed mounted handles.   
     
     
         16 . A method for making a puzzle game apparatus, the steps of the method comprising:
 providing a housing having first and second portions, each portion being structurally arranged to translate relative to one another along a longitudinal axis of the housing;   mounting a first array of lights to the first portion of the housing to enable the first array of lights to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the housing and to rotate around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;   mounting a second array of lights to the second portion of the housing;   connecting a controller to the housing and to the first and second arrays of lights for selecting from a multiplicity of varying light patterns for display on the first and second arrays of lights, including a first predetermined light pattern to appear on the first array of lights and a second predetermined pattern to appear on the second array of lights;   connecting a compression switch to the first and second arrays of lights and to the controller for activation when the patterns of the first and second arrays of lights display the first and the second predetermined patterns; and   mounting, an indicator structure to the housing and operatively connecting the indicator structure to the controller and the compression switch.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , including the step of:
 mounting a speaker to the housing.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , including the step of:
 mounting oppositely disposed handles to the housing.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the second array of lights is fixedly mounted to the second portion of the housing.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , including the steps of:
 mounting a speaker to the housing; and   mounting oppositely disposed handles to the housing; and wherein   the second array of lights is fixedly mounted to the second portion of the housing.